County Offices

Living With Fire Program receives highest honor at regional conference

Posted 5/25/2016

Living With Fire Program Directors Ed Smith (left) and Sonya Sistare (middle), and Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator Elwood Miller (right) received the “Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Award” for their impact on wildfire mitigation, prevention and education. Photo courtesy of Vanesa Marquez, Nevada Bureau of Land Management.

Cooperative Extension team recognized for work and impact in fire mitigation, prevention and education

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program team received the “Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Award” at the Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Conference held last month in Boise, Idaho.

“The Living With Fire team is an amazing group,” said State Fire Mitigation and Trespass Specialist Jennifer Myslivy, with the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho. “They don’t just help people within Nevada — their work reaches all across the United States.”

Living With Fire Program Directors Sonya Sistare and Ed Smith, and Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator Elwood Miller were chosen by a panel with representatives from Nevada, Idaho and Utah. The Living With Fire team was selected based on their cooperation with communities and program partners, their community impact, their educational materials, and their overall interactions and approaches to spreading wildfire awareness and teaching homeowners how to live more safely with the threat of wildfire.

“Living With Fire has received other forms of recognition in the past, but this award is especially meaningful because it comes from our peers in wildfire mitigation education who understand the significance of the issue and the associated challenges,” said Smith.

The conference includes wildfire mitigation and prevention specialists from Nevada, Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, eastern California and western Wyoming, with presenters from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, various State Divisions of Forestry and local fire services.

Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program is made possible through a unique partnership with the Nevada Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service. For more information about Living With Fire, visit www.LivingWithFire.info, or contact University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, sistares@unce.unr.edu or 775-336-0271.